


Mage: Chapter 1- A Chance Encounter

by 50Funny



Series: Mage [1]
Category: mage - Fandom
Genre: Mage, Magic, Magical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 12:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18691810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50Funny/pseuds/50Funny





	Mage: Chapter 1- A Chance Encounter

Part 1- New Arrival  
Liz stared out the window of the train carriage doors as it pulled to a screeching halt in the station. The doors began to pull open filling the carriage with the sounds of hundreds of voices. Liz took her first step onto the train platform taking in all the sights and sounds of the new place she found herself in.  
“Finally,” Liz said with determination in her voice as she looked up at the cloudless sky. “Seaside here I come!”  
Seaside, a large city built alongside the ocean. Also known as the paradise in the south, the city attracted millions of visitors every year due to its stunning beaches, beautiful architecture and never ending sunshine, but that wasn’t the only reason people came to seaside, with it also being famous for being one of the most magical places on earth. With hundreds of mages retiring and thousands of magic users making the journey there every year it’s no surprise magic was Seaside’s largest industry. Liz stood hunched over in a magic shop with her hands on her knees staring into a glass cabinet with a pot siting inside.  
“Woooooooow, is that an infinite pot?” Liz said with awe in her voice.  
“You have quite the eye, yeah we just got that in this morning,” the store clerk replied from behind the counter.  
“That so cool, I’ve never seen one before, this place is so amazing,” Liz said looking into the cabinet with wonder.  
Liz looked away from the cabinet to meet the store clerk’s eyes  
“Excuse me sir but do you think you could get this one out for me I’d like to buy it,” Liz asked the clerk.  
“Sure thing” the clerk responded with a wide smile stretching across his face “that’ll just be 3000 rallod”  
Liz grabbed the back of her head and let out an awkward giggle.  
“Haha. How about 30?” Liz questioned the clerk.  
The man’s smile quickly shifted into an annoyed frown as he stared Liz down. Without saying a word the man began to approach Liz his heavy steps shaking the small room. He reached Liz looming above her ominously; the clerk reached his arms out and began to push her towards the open door. Liz screamed and punched at the man’s arms to no avail, soon enough she stood in the doorway to the street. With a hard shove the man sent Liz flying out the store and into the ally way.  
“Come back when you have some money, deadbeat!” the store clerk yelled as he slammed the door as loudly as possible.  
Liz sat in the ally for a few seconds as she contemplated what had happened.  
“Deadbeat?” Liz questioned to herself.  
Liz stood up in a split second and began banging on the door ranting to no success. In her anger Liz failed to notice the three sinister looking men approaching her from the shadows further down the ally. The men wore tattered clothing and carried knives and chains as they slowly approached Liz. The man in the middle of the group walked ahead before stopping, soon followed by the other two.  
“All right boys,” the man in the middle said “looks like its business time.”  
Part 2- Alex And Bip  
Alex and Bip sat on the patio of a crowded café. Alex gently placed his cup down on the table in front of him.  
“Well this was a waste of time,” Alex said as he lifted his hand from the cup, “we’re never going to find anything.”  
“What did you expect, it’s not like the Intel you got was all that specific,” Bip responded.  
Alex looked across the table with a fed up face, on the other side of the table his eyes met the small cat like creature floating weightlessly above the chair. Its leathery wings lightly flapping as his tail dipped into his cup slurping gulps of liquid up it.  
“Yeah well, don’t blame me for that. I could’ve gotten a lot more information from that guy if you hadn’t pulled me outta the building so quickly,” Alex said in a frustrated tone.  
“Because it was on fire Alex. You set the house on fire!” Bip replied.  
“Yeah well, whatever,” Alex said quickly changing the subject. “In any case, if I don’t see any action soon I’m going to die of boredom, no joke.”  
“Well, maybe you could find a job,” Bip said.  
Alex looked at Bip and laughed sarcastically as a waitress approached their table.  
“Excuse me sirs, but your meals are ready” said the waitress.  
She stood over the table holding a plate in each hand, food piled up on both. Alex and Bip both looked up gleefully at the mountain of food being brought to them.  
“Finally, I’m so hungry” Alex said.  
“Thank you Miss, this looks delicious,” Bip said with a polite smile.  
The waitress placed the food down on the table in front of the Alex and Bip. The pair looked at the food longingly for a moment, before quickly grabbing their cutlery and beginning to greedily dig in.  
“Hope you enjoy your food sirs. That’ll just be 300 rallod” the waitress said with a welcoming smile.  
Alex and Bip stopped eating and awkwardly stared at each other as they simultaneously realised they had run out of money. Alex desperately tried to think of an excuse to get out of their situation while still getting to enjoy his feast.  
“AHHHHHHHH!” a scream came from the distance  
“What was that?” Bip questioned looking in the direction of the scream.  
“I don’t know, sounded like a women screaming,” Alex replied, quickly realizing a way out of his situation “come on Bip we should probably go check it out” he continued.  
Alex shoved as much food as possible into his mouth before getting out of his seat and running off grabbing Bip and pulling him away from the table on the way.  
“Huh, wait Alex! Hold up,” Bip said, confused by Alex’s sudden move.  
The waitress watched as the pair ran off down the street towards the scream. She looked down at the table to see the half eaten plates of food sitting soon realising what had happened.  
“Hey wait a second!” the waitress yelled after them.  
“What are you doing Alex?” Bip questioned frustrated. “I barely even got to enjoy my lunch.”  
“Don’t complain, now come on let’s get a move on… this could be just the thing to cure my boredom,” Alex replied.  
Alex ran down the street followed shortly behind by Bip. As they continued the streets became less and less populated until they were completely alone. The pair approached the location of the scream turning into a shady looking ally.  
Part 3 The Chance Encounter  
Alex and Bip’s eyes widened in surprise as they saw what was down the ally. A man laid face down un-conscious on in the street sprawled knocked out. Two other men were stuck high up on the wall by a large ice crystal wrapped around their chests squirming trying to free themselves.  
“What the hell happened here?” Bip exclaimed.  
“I don’t know, just keep your guard up,” Alex replied.  
The pair cautiously began to walk down the alley towards the man lying on the ground. A door on the side of the street swung open suddenly, causing Alex to draw a small knife and prepared for a fight. Liz walked out of the room staring down at the cardboard box covered in wrapping paper in her hand.  
“Thanks mister,” Liz yelled happily into the store as she closed the door behind her with her foot.  
Liz’s expression shifted to a frustrated scowl as she noticed Alex and Bip standing in the ally, watching her.  
“Oh no don’t tell me you're with those guys. I really don’t want to fight anyone else today so if we can just skip this that’d be great,” Liz said.  
“We just came ‘cause we heard someone screaming. We don’t want any trouble if you don’t,” Alex replied as calmly as possible, slowly lowering his knife.  
Liz looked cautiously for a second at the boy and the floating creature, before changing her tone and smiling at them.  
“Well, ok then. As long as you two aren’t going to start anything,” Liz replied as she approached the Alex and Bip. I’m Liz by the way.”  
“This is Bip, and I’m Alex,” said Alex looking over the downed thugs. “So if you were the one who beat up all these guys, then who was it we heard scream?” questioned Alex.  
“Haha, yeah well that was me,” Liz said letting out an awkward giggle. “One of these thugs had a bunch of cash on him, enough for me to buy…” Liz continued pulling off the wrapping on the box and holding it out excitedly “… this super awesome infinite pot!!” Liz finished.  
There was a brief silence as Alex and Bip looked on with confusion. Liz began to lower the box and regain her composure.  
“Sorry I just get really excited about magic” Liz continued, as her eyes began to focus on Bip as he floated behind Alex’s shoulder “And speaking of magic…”  
Liz ran over to Bip her eyes once again filling with excitement. She grabbed Bip by the shoulders and stared into his eyes intently. Bip shook fearfully as Liz’s terrifying eyes pierced him.  
“You wouldn’t happen to be,” Liz said leaning in even closer, “a familiar?”  
“Ahhhh yeah, I am I guess.” Bip replied his voice quivering fearfully.  
Liz took a deep breath and closed her eyes for second before exploding in pure excitement.  
“Oh my god that’s so cool I’ve heard about familiars before but I’ve never seen one before. A magical creature bound to the soul of a human, that’s so awesome! You’re so awesome! You’re so incredible! And amazing!” Liz blurted out as quickly as possible.  
“Ohhh…” Bip said taking in the complement. “Thank you very much Miss,” he continued, a smile growing across his face.  
“Careful there, if you inflate his ego too much he might just float away,” Alex said sarcastically.  
“Oh shhh. ‘Bout time I get some appreciation,” Bip responded.  
The group continued to chat away unaware as the man on the ground slowly began to regain consciousness. The man groggily looked on as the figures in front of him slowly became clearer and clearer. As the man’s vision began to come back he started to make out Liz he began to remember what had happened to him and his friends. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife as slowly as possible so as to not draw attention to himself.  
“Damn you,” the man muttered under his breath as he began to slowly stand up.  
Alex saw the man’s movement and the glint of the sun from his knife over Liz’s shoulder.  
“Look out!” Alex yelled raising his arm to point at the man.  
Liz turned around with a shocked look on her face. The man lunged towards her holding out his knife.  
“YOU’RE GONNA PAY!!!” the man yelled at the top of his voice.  
Liz reached her arm out with an open palm shooting a blast of light blue ice towards the man. The blast hit him in the center of the chest forming an ice crystal around his torso and sending him flying further down the ally. Liz turned back to face Bip and Alex panting slightly.  
“Wow, that was close! Thanks a bunch, if you weren’t here he might’ve actually gotten me,” Liz said.  
“No need to thank us,” Bip said, “it’s not like we really did that much.”  
“Still though, I owe you something and I pay my debts,” Liz replied.  
“Miss please it’s really not neces…” Bip said before being cut off by Alex’s hand across his mouth. Bip’s words trailed off as Alex’s hand closed over his mouth. ?  
“Well I suppose if you insist,” Alex said with a scheming grin across his face.  
Alex walked off back down the alley way. Bip and Liz shared a confused looked before following.  
Part 4- Getting To Know Each other  
The sun began to set, casting an orange light and deepening shadows across the bustling city. Liz sat staring out of the cafe large window at the unfamiliar cityscape. Bip floated just above the table opposite her, taking in the view and flicking his tail aimlessly as Alex placed his order.  
“Wow this place is amazing. I’ve never seen so many people in one place before,” Liz said in wonder.  
“Yeah, and this place gets even busier once the sun’s down,” Bip said turning his head to look at Liz. “So, Liz, mind if I ask you a question?” Bip continued.  
“Huh? Yeah of course you can,” Liz replied turning her head to look at Bip.  
“What exactly brought you to Seaside? I mean you don’t really seem like a local”  
“Huh? What? Haha, you don’t really want to hear that,” Liz said awkwardly, trying to avoid the topic.  
“We’ve got plenty of time to kill” Alex said as the waitress walked away.  
“Well ok,” Liz said doubtfully. “You see, I know I don’t really seem like the type, but.” Liz took a deep breath and let it out, “I want to join a guild and become a mage.”  
“A mage?” Bip and Alex simultaneously questioned.  
“Yeah, a mage. You know, government certified magic users. It’s only the coolest and most awesome job in the entire world.” Liz said her tone growing in excitement.  
Alex and Bip listened on slightly surprised by the high ambitions of the odd seeming girl. Mages were some of the most powerful magic users in the world. Many different guilds where able to grant a magic user certification with the only factor linking them was the highly selective and dangerous tests that one had to pass in order to gain the title of mage. Very few passed and even more where killed or injured trying, but those who were successful gained a wealth of perks and access to classified information to help them in the various dangers tasks and jobs they underwent on a daily basis. There was a moment of silence as Alex and Bip continued to look surprised.  
“So if you want to be a mage why are you in Seaside?” Bip questioned.  
“Yeah, I thought the guild tryouts where happening in Capital City pretty soon?” Alex quizzed.  
Liz’s enthusiasm seemed to evaporate as she looked down towards the ground as her body began to sink down into the booth.  
“Yeah well in truth… I’m not really all that good with my magic, I mean I can hold my own but I’m nowhere near good enough to become a mage.” Liz said “So that’s why I came here. I’m trying to hunt down an ex-mage who just retired here. I heard he was a real big shot so I wanted to become his apprentice and finish my training.”  
Liz continued to sink in her chair and her expression darkened.  
“In truth even if I complete my training I’ll probably still be nowhere near good enough to become a mage. But I’ve got to try, even if it kills me,” Liz said. “I can’t stay trapped forever” she muttered under her breath.  
Alex looked into Liz’s sunken eyes, to anyone else she looked completely defeated but Alex, saw fire behind them.  
“Yeah well I don’t know why you would even want to be a mage,” Alex said, trying to lighten the mood.  
“Huh what are you talking about?” Liz asks looking up at Alex.  
“Well, from what I hear, mages are just overrated mercenaries. Plus the guild tests are so dangerous and all you get out of them is some meaningless title… I’ll pass,” Alex continued.  
Liz stood up from her seat slamming the table as she leaned in closely towards Alex.  
“Huh… what would you know! Being a mage is the dream of all magic users and since you’re not one you have no right to judge. What brings you to Seaside then that’s soooo much cooler then my life dream?” Liz said angrily.  
Alex’s mood shifted in an instant. Liz felt a sudden ominous presence as his eyes filled with a dark intent. Noticing the shift in Alex’s mood, Liz regretted her question. Bip looked over to Alex knowing what his friend was thinking.  
“Ahhh, we're looking for something” Bip said as vaguely as possible, trying to defuse the situation.  
Alex snapped out of his state inhaling deeply “What? Oh yeah, we're looking for something” he said going along with Bip.  
Liz looked confused and concerned at what had just happened. A waitress walked over to the table carrying with her two plates piled up with a mountain of food.  
“Excuse me, but your foods here,” the waitress said.  
“Thank god, I’m starving” Alex grinned wolfishly.  
“Thanks miss,” Bip said.  
The waitress placed down the plates in front of Bip and Alex blocking out Liz’s view of the pair. Almost as soon as the food was placed down Bip and Alex grabbed their cutlery and began shoving food into their mouths as quickly as possible.  
“Wow those two can really eat,” thought Liz amazed.  
“Hope you enjoy your meals, and that’ll be 600 rallod,” the waitress said in a pleasant tone.  
Alex looked up from his plate and gestured towards Liz with a happy smile.  
“Ahhh yes, I believe that my friend here will be taking care of the bill thank you very much,” Alex said before returning to his feast.  
“Huh? Wait? What? I can’t afford that?” Liz said confused.  
“Hang on, you said that you owed us one” Alex said, once again raising his head from his meal.  
“Yeah, I meant like, do your chores, or ruff someone up a bit for you. I don’t have that kind of money” Liz replied anxiously  
The waitress cleared her throat loudly, drawing the group’s attention to her. She looked frustrated at the group for a moment before raising her hand and gesturing towards the large chef working in the kitchen. The chef took notice and began stomping out of the kitchen over to the table looming over the group. He reached out, massive bearish hands grabbing the group by the back of their necks, pulling them from the booth and chucking them out of the restaurant and onto the street at full force.  
“Come back when you have some money” the chef growled as the group landed on the street with a loud thud.  
“Ow that hurt,” Bip said lightly rubbing his back where he had landed.  
Alex stood up and stared Liz down with a ferocity  
“You lied to us you deadbeat!” Alex hissed at Liz.  
“Deadbeat?” Liz demanded “Who you calling a deadbeat? You’re the deadbeat! At least I don’t trick other people into buying my dinner for me,” Liz yelled back at Alex.  
Alex began to boil with anger. He reached over to Bip who was still sitting on the ground and grabbed him by the tail before storming off down the street away from Liz.  
“Hey! Ow quit it, that hurts!” Bip whined as Alex dragged him off.  
“Have fun sleeping on the street tonight, deadbeat!” Alex yelled over his shoulder as he stormed off.  
“Yeah well… you to!” Liz shouted back unthinkingly as she stormed off down the unfamiliar streets in the opposite direction.  
The night closed in as the pair stormed off expecting to never see each other again.As the pair stormed off prepared to never see one another again neither realised just how important this encounter was nor did they realise the impact that they would end up having have on each other destiny.


End file.
